


Beyond The Loving Memory

by Bisexualtrashlord



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Acceptance, Closure, Gen, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Minor Character Death, None of the death is described I promise, Past Character Death, This fic is really cheerful can't you tell?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 06:45:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18231338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisexualtrashlord/pseuds/Bisexualtrashlord
Summary: Kravitz feels a longing to learn about his parents after he passed. The Raven Queen gives him the chance to learn, and there is comfort after the pain.





	Beyond The Loving Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Hi gems,  
> I'm so happy I get to share this with you, this is a fic I'm really proud of. I wanted to write something like this for a while, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The title comes from the song "The Loving Memory" by Cecilia McDowall.
> 
> Trigger/content warning: there's a lot of talk about death in this, but I promise you that none of the ways people die are described. Be safe and take care of yourself.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and please let me know if you do!

When he first walked down this hallway, pure, bitter fear crept through his essence, just barely made whole after entering the Astral Plane. Now, when he feels the telepathic pull of his Queen beckoning him, he is unafraid, for he always knows who is calling to him. Someone who, in the most peculiar of ways, is the closest thing he’s had to a matriarch since…

Well.

Kravitz reaches the grand doors of the throne room and touches his skeletal hand to the cool onyx stone, where they groan open at his hand. The pillars and floor in the room were the same smooth, dark stone, but the walls were an array of swirling colors, gateways and windows to see the activity in other planes. The Raven Queen sat in her throne, her face covered in a dark, glittering shroud, unreadable.

“My Queen, you summoned me,” Kravitz said, dropping to one knee.

_“Rise, my Reaper…”_ she said, her voice a mix of hundreds of voices.

Kravitz rose to his feet at full attention. “I am prepared to do your bidding, My Queen. What do you wish me to do?”

“ _Nothing, not this time. I sense discord in your mind, Kravitz.”_

Kravitz’s mouth went dry, inwardly cursing that he wasn’t better at hiding his worries. “Ah, w-whatever you sense is of little import, My Queen. I assure you that it will not impede on my duties to you.”

_“You are missing home, My Child.”_

“W-while—you are correct in your all-seeing wisdom, My Queen. I do miss my home and my husband, but I assure you that, while I feel this often, it does not inhibit my ability to—”

“ _Not that home. Your other home, the one you had before you became my emissary.”_

It wasn’t a question.

Kravitz swallowed, “I…M-My Queen I…”

“ _My Kravitz, you are not the only one in my retinue who has had thoughts of the life they once had. It is natural, particularly when your life was taken so soon. The thoughts you have now are causing you pain. Tell me what ails you, Child.”_

The Raven Queen had a subtle warmth in her voice, one that Kravitz rarely, if ever heard. The tone took him aback, but his Queen seemed eager to help him. Almost, Kravitz thought, like a parent would.

“I…lately I’ve been thinking about my family. I died…I died long before they did, I never got to see any of them live their lives or, see them to your Realm. I miss them, My Queen. Is it possible to miss that which you did not get to see much?” Kravitz quivered.

The Raven Queen gave a nod, “ _I believe it is, if you feel a pull towards it, then it is possible to miss. I wish I could ease all of your pain, but there is only one thing I can do for you. I can give you the location of their final resting place.”_

Kravitz’s head shot up. “T-their resting place?”

Another nod. “ _This is all I with which I can provide, for to ask for anything else is against the Order of life and death. I need you to understand, Kravitz, that I cannot bring them back to you.”_ The Raven Queen said, pitied.

Kravitz nodded jerkily, “I understand, My Queen. I…I do not have the words to express my gratitude for your generosity.”

“ _Words are not needed, I can feel your thoughts becoming less clouded. Good luck, My Child.”_

Kravitz swallowed a lump in his throat, “Thank you, My Queen.”

**oOo**

Kravitz awoke early two mornings later, deciding that today was the day to visit. He slid out of bed and donned his Reaper clothes with a wave of his hand. He glanced at Taako, who was still sound asleep and rumpled deep in the sheets. He smiled and wished that he could slip under the covers with him and forget about all this, but he simply couldn’t.

“I’ll be home soon,” he whispered softly, before closing the bedroom door behind him.

It was still dark outside when he left the house and the chill of the early morning seeped into his bones. His heart was no longer dormant as it beat a mile a minute when he summoned his scythe and sliced a rift to where his parents lay. Kravitz blinked back tears that threatened to fall, confused as to why they were there, nothing happened yet.

He stepped through the rift and into a lush, green forest. It was later in the morning here, with the sun shining brilliantly through the trees. It was quiet and warm and peaceful, and Kravitz relaxed, only slightly.

It was then he felt a tug at the back of his head, moving him backwards. He turned, and the pull grew stronger, urging him to move forward. Knowing this was the pull of the Raven Queen’s directions, he followed it. Dodging limbs and vines and thick grass, the pull lured him deeper into the forest. He wasn’t sure how long he’s been walking, but with the warmth in the air and the heavy layers he wore, Kravitz began to work up a sweat. He waved his hand, fading the cape and dark suit jacket away.

The pull ended when Kravitz came upon a grassy clearing, just as unkept as the rest of the forest, and in the middle stood the ruins of a large, old stone house. The stones were thickly covered by vines and dotted with wildflowers. Part of the roof and door was gone, hallowed out and empty for centuries.

Kravitz’s heart pounded faster. This was it. This was his house, his home. He couldn’t remember what it looked like when the house was full of life, and that pained him.

The sight of two mounds covered in the overgrowth a yard away from the house caught his eye, and cautiously, Kravitz approached them. As he got closer, he realized they were made of stone. Kravitz’s blood froze.

“This…these are…” he croaked.

Kravitz sunk to his knees in front of the stone graves and brushed and scraped away the vines and grass that collected there over the centuries. With each layer, he uncovered more of the letters and inscriptions.

K-R-A-

He heaved a sob.

V-I-T-

Another one.

When he was done, Kravitz’s fingers were caked in dirt and mica, and weeds and dried roots clung to his shirt sleeves. He was sweaty and tears were stuck to his face. At this moment, he wasn’t the Raven Queen’s emissary. He wasn’t one of the saviors of existence. He was just a man. A man who found his parent’s resting place and never got the chance to grieve for them.

Kravitz stood, shaking the dirt off as best he could. He sniffled, wiped his eyes, and took in the names.

_Petro Kravitz_

_Devoted Husband, Father, and Friend_

_Liliya Kravitz_

_Loving Wife, Mother, and Friend_

“H-hello mother, hello father. I…I must admit that I’m not sure what to say. I’ve been thinking about you two more often, and I life I had before I…before I left. I…I’m sorry that I don’t remember much from my time being alive, b-but I have to believe that there was a lot of love in this family. It…that love must have been very powerful, for it was the thing that led me here today.”

Kravitz cleared his throat, swallowing the lump there.

“I…I’ve found love in the time since my death. I met an elf, and his name is Taako. He helped save this world—all of them in fact. I…there’s a lot I can say about him, but I’ll just say that I think…I think you both would really like him, and I have to imagine that he would really like you.”

“You know,” Kravitz began, taking in the quiet beauty of the field, “My Queen often says that, even though people leave this world, that there are ways they remind the living that they’re still around. Not just in material possessions, but in the way the world interacts with them, like a change of breeze, or how the sun touches the body. I wonder…I wonder if you two have been giving me signs that you’re with me, and I didn’t notice them. I…I’m sorry if you did, I didn’t mean to ignore them. I’m going to notice them now. Thank…thank you for raising me. I love you both.”

Kravitz inhaled deeply and felt tears well in his eyes again. He took one more look at the graves, stones clean and warming by the sun, and turned and walked away. He felt the heavy, painful weight on his heart lift away, replaced by bittersweet closure. Now that he’s seen his parents and said goodbye, he reckons that he’ll think about them more than ever before. But that was fine with Kravitz, for, at the very least, he knows that they are in a place surrounded by flowers and lush grass, bathed in sunlight.

When he felt the pull of the Raven Queen, he summoned his scythe, inhaled the warm and gentle breeze one last time, before stepping through the rift and into the Queen’s throne room.

He was once again surrounded by sleek onyx and swirling colors along the walls, the warmth from the field fading into the chill of the astral plane. His Queen was standing this time, having taken on the form of a humanoid figure, her face still unreadable under the shroud.

“ _My Kravitz, did you find what you sought?”_

“Yes, My Queen. I…thank you, for allowing me to…to see it—see them,” Kravitz said, voice quivering at the last words.

“ _Do you feel at peace?”_

Kravitz nodded, “I do…at least a little.”

The Raven Queen nodded slowly. “ _Go home, My Kravitz. Your other home.”_

There was a warmth in the Queen’s voice that was almost maternal, so much so that it caused a pang in Kravitz’s heart. “Thank you, My Queen.”

When he entered the house and up the stairs to the bedroom, Taako was just now waking up. Emotion swept through him when he saw Taako, sleep rumpled, and hair mussed but alive.

“You’re home,” Taako yawned with a smile, which quickly faded at his sweaty, haggard state and pained expression Kravitz must have been wearing.

He opened his arms, “come here,” he murmured.

Kravitz surged forward and let Taako envelop him in an embrace, burying his head in Taako’s neck. The reality of the day fully caught up to him, the exhaustion and toll of what he did falling on him in layers.

“Rough mission?”

Kravitz could only nod.

“It’s okay, you’re here now. You’re home,” Taako whispered, gently rocking him back and forth.

Kravitz stayed like that for a while, letting the emotions run their course. Taako held him the whole time, reminding him that they were both safe. Kravitz was first to pull away, nodding that the was alright.

“Come on, let’s go downstairs. I’ll make your favorite, Taako said, sliding off the bed.

“You don’t have to do that just because I came back from a mission.”

“I know, but I want to. We can even eat outside, it’s supposed to be a beautiful day.”

Kravitz nodded, “okay, but let me change first.”

Taako smiled lightly, “I’ll be downstairs.”

After showering and changing, Kravitz entered the kitchen and was comforted with the familiar sights of home: Taako concocting dishes and the cats playfully swatting at each other on the floor. He opened the French windows to the garden and gasped softly at the way the sun danced along the flowers and grass and leaves, making everything appear golden in the early morning light. He stepped out, feeling the cool wood against his bare feet and inhaled the fresh air, taking in the sheer _life_ around him.

It was then that the clouds parted in the sky, making the sun shine on Kravitz’s hand, warm and welcoming, followed by a gentle breeze that hugged his entire being.

_I feel you both_ , he thought.

He smiled.


End file.
